


At the Library

by kaciemcr



Category: Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy
Genre: Library, M/M, the title is just a green day song im lame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 13:36:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9125947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaciemcr/pseuds/kaciemcr
Summary: Gabe's a librarian, and Pete is bad at returning his books.





	

“Vicky-T, who the fuck hasn’t returned Kama Sutra in two months?” Gabe asked, annoyed, “No one needs it that long. I read it in, like, two days.” He scrolled through the list of overdue books on the computer screen. A group of kids entered the library, but walked right past the front counter. He turned back to his work, and clicked on the card number the book was borrowed out to. There were three more overdue books. 

“I remember that. You kept trying to tell me facts from it for weeks, and I tried to switch shifts with Suarez until he realized why,” Victoria scoffed. A woman and her son stopped in front of her and placed a stack of books on the counter. Victoria smiled sweetly and scanned them along with the woman’s card before waving them off. “How much does he owe? Shouldn’t we charge him for the book by now?” She waltzed over to Gabe’s computer and checked the balance. 

Gabe shrugged and clicked out of it. He caught the name “Wentz” at the top of the screen by the card number. “I’m gonna restock some books before my shift ends.” He muttered before pushing the book cart off towards the nonfiction section. Victoria went back to helping a middle-aged woman set up an account for her daughter. 

___

“Hey, Pete, don’t forget to return your books,” Patrick said for the millionth time in the last month before going to class. Every time he came back to their apartment, the stack of books still sat in their same spot in the living room. He wasn’t even sure if Pete had read them, but he knew they were at least somewhat overdue by now. Pete made an incoherent noise from his position on the couch, which Patrick took as a “okay.” If they were still there when he got back, he’d return them himself if he had to. 

Once Pete heard the door slam shut, he pulled himself up. The living room was bright from the afternoon sunshine. It was a nice day, and Pete knew it, but he still felt like wasting it watching TV. A simple task to get him out of the house would be returning his library books, since the library was only a few blocks away. He could walk if he wanted. 

Pete shuffled into his bedroom and pulled on some clothes that didn’t look too dirty. He brushed his fingers through his dark hair and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, most likely smudging yesterday’s eyeliner even more. Pete hesitated by the living room window, just breathing and watching the street outside. Patrick’s mind-numbing reminder to return his books made him roll his eyes, but pick them up nonetheless. He struggled to hold the four books with one arm as he locked the apartment door. 

The walk to the public library felt longer than it really was in the blazing sun. Wearing black made him look good, but at what cost? He felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. Each car that drove past him made him wonder why he thought walking would be a good idea. If he really wanted to exercise, he had a gym membership. 

When the building was finally in sight, he sighed in relief and adjusted his grip on the books. He looked down at the pile. Kama Sutra was on top. He laughed, remembering checking it out, because Joe mentioned it. He hadn’t even gotten around to reading it.

Pete hummed a tune, trying to enjoy the day. At least Patrick would be happy that he did as he was told. Suddenly, there was a shadow over him and a body bumping into his side. He struggled to keep his balance, but the stack of books flew dropped to the sidewalk. A man’s voice was speaking quickly from beside him, but he could make out that it was a fervent apology. He dropped to his knees beside the books and shoveled them into his arms. When he stood up again, Pete noticed he was almost a foot taller. It was intimidating.

“Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was walking,” Gabe said, “Uh, my friend wanted me to text him when I got off work. Here’s your books… I hope they’re okay. If not, I can pay for damage, it’s fine. Just tell Victoria that Gabe did it.” He looked down at the books as he handed them back to Pete. It was the guy. It was the guy that Gabe was complaining about earlier. And he was attractive. “You have fees on these.” He said with full eye contact before walking to his car. Pete just stared after him. He shook his head and went to return them. 

The librarian, Victoria, smiled at him as he set the books in front of her. “I’m returning these. Gabe said any damage is his fault.” Pete mumbled. Victoria opened and closed her mouth, confused. She decided to just nod and take the books.

___

“Hey,” Gabe practically yelled as he walked into the library. Vicky-T gave him an annoyed look, but ignored him. Gabe wandered behind the counter and picked up where he left off yesterday. He was glad to see that few people had returned their books.

“Gabe, you’re putting books away again today. Nate said he’d organize the books on hold tonight, and Victoria is leaving early today,” Alex, Gabe’s boss, said. They were almost the same age, but Alex had started working before him and moved up the line faster. It didn’t mean anyone listened or took him seriously, though. Vicky-T did whatever she wanted as long as it didn’t disrupt the library-goers. Nate usually picked his hours, got first choice, and ended up working only nights. Working nights didn’t mean much considering they closed at 8, but it was better than Gabe’s shifts at 8 in the morning. 

“Sure, man.” He pushed the cart back towards the nonfiction section again. 

An hour later, Gabe’s finished organizing the returned books. He met Victoria back at the counter in time to see her clock out. Today was gonna be a lonely day of helping people check out books and navigate the aisles. The only thing he had to look forward to was the salad he had at home and the new episode of How to Get Away With Murder. 

He checked a copy of one of the Series of Unfortunate Events out to a teenage girl. He’d always meant to read that series sometime. After 20 minutes of silence, even more so than expected from working at a library, Gabe was ready to fall asleep behind the desk, then a man walked through the door. He was short and clad in a dark fitted hoodie and skinny jeans. Gabe eyed his shoes for a second wondering whether they were actually heelys or just ugly shoes. 

The man smiled in his direction as he walked into one of the fiction aisles. Gabe almost slammed his head on the desk when he realized it was the guy from yesterday; the one he’d awkwardly bumped into and run off without even making sure he and his books were okay. A few minutes later the man resurfaced from the aisle with a new stack of books. Gabe willed him to go to the self-checkout, so he wouldn’t be tempted to criticize him with “you shouldn’t be taking books if you’re not going to return them, let alone pay the fines,” but instead he waltzed up to the taller boy and handed the novels over.

“Oh, and can you tell me how much my fines are, first?” Pete asked. He dug a couple dollar bills out of his pocket and set them between them. Gabe searched for the man’s account on the computer.

“We took off the payments owed for the actual books, since you returned them.” Gabe clicked the mouse, “And I’m willing to let these fees go, just this once, as long as you don’t let it happen again. There’s a week after the due date before we charge anything.”

Pete nodded thankfully and stuffed the money back into his pocket. He hummed and checked his phone while Gabe scanned the books. “Are you free tonight?” Gabe quirked his eyebrow at the inquisition. The only things he knew about this guy was that his name was Pete Wentz, he’s read Kama Sutra, and he’s kind of hot. And those three things were enough for him to say yes.

**Author's Note:**

> This feels unfinished but idc. Kama Sutra is a book about sex for those who didn't know. Thank you for reading.


End file.
